The fallout from the EU commissions recall of Brazilian beef in November 2025 continues with the latest revelations showing the implicated beef entered the Irish food chain last year.

Information obtained by the Irish Farmers Journal from the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) has revealed that Brazilian beef treated with the banned carcinogenic hormone Oestradiol 17ß entered the Irish food chain in September 2025.

The beef made its way to three Republic of Ireland based food businesses. It is currently unclear as to what counties these food businesses are located in and also whether they are food service establishments or retailers.

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Speaking to the Irish Farmers Journal a spokesperson for the FSAI said: “On 12 December 2025, the FSAI was notified by the Food Standards Agency Northern Ireland (FSA in NI) that a consignment of beef, from animals that had been treated with oestradiol, had been distributed from Northern Ireland to three food businesses (approx 128kg) in Ireland in September 2025.

“The implicated beef was imported into the EU from Brazil. Environmental health officers in the Health Service Executive (HSE) have undertaken checks at those food businesses and verified that none of the implicated meat remains on the market.”

The spokesperson for the FSAI added: “The administration of oestradiol, which can be used as a growth-promoting hormone, is not allowed in animals intended for the food chain in the EU.

"This incident is linked to a notification from the European Commission on 11 November 2025, to all member states, that following contact with the Brazilian authorities during an audit, EU officials were informed that carcases from animals treated with oestradiol were mixed into consignments of beef destined for the EU.

“The beef was exported legally in several consignments to the EU, namely The Netherlands, Italy and Spain, and subsequentially distributed onwards.

"The European Commission set out clearly in this notification to member states that these consignments should be traced and withdrawn from the EU market or recalled from consumers.”

Brazilian beef in Northern Ireland

In response to questions submitted by the Irish Farmers Journal to the FSA in NI in December 2025, a spokesperson said: “Our checks have confirmed that a small quantity of beef primal cuts of Brazilian origin entered Northern Ireland in September with an expiry date of 31 October 2025.

"The FSA in NI has been following up with the competent authorities for businesses supplied and there is no evidence that any affected product remains on sale.”

In October 2025 the Irish Farmers Journal along with the Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) travelled to Brazil and highlighted huge discrepancies in the sale of antibiotics and hormones which are banned for use in the EU.

The investigation also highlighted the vast gulf there is between standards of production in Brazil compared with the standards applied to European farmers.

In response to the regional recall, the Commission has said that a full report will be published in early 2026.

For more on this breaking story follow farmersjournal.ie for updates.